Glide Variables

ServiceNow uses a special type of super flexible variable to store information in what appears like a single field, but is actually a complex storage/management system with a database column type called glide_var.

As each record can have a different number of variables stored as key/value pairs, there’s no easy way of dot-walking to the name of the variable within the glide_var as the names can change from record to record within the same table! You can, however, detect and retrieve variables from a glide_var by treating the gliderecord field as an object.

In this example, from an automated test framework step, you can see each of the variables and their values from the database glide_var column inputs.

var gr = new GlideRecord('the table you are looking at')
gr.get('sys_id of the record you are looking at')
for(var eachVariable in gr.inputs){
gs.info(eachVariable + ' : ' + gr.inputs[eachVariable])
}

If you run this in a background script you’ll see precisely which variables exist and what their values are.

Conclusion

It doesn't need to be complicated! Reach out to us and we can help you.